Enhancing inhibition: How impulsivity and emotional activation interact with different implementation intentions

Implementation intentions, a strategy in which a strong link is created between a cue and a to-be-performed action, have been shown to be efficacious in improving self-regulation. The relative efficacy of verbal and visual implementation intentions, however, has yet to be determined. Implementation intentions have also been shown to be inefficacious in participants with high impulsivity, specifically in individuals who reported having a high tendency to commit rash or regrettable actions as a result of intense affect (high urgency). Nevertheless, previous studies did not assess whether the individuals were in an emotional context at the time of the experiment. In the current study, we compared different forms of implementation intentions (verbal/visual/combined verbal-visual) on a computerized inhibition task while assessing impulsivity and emotional activation. The results showed that all types of implementation intentions improved inhibition performances significantly in participants with high urgency, but only when their emotional activation was low. There was no difference between the three types of implementation intentions.